RAY ANTHONY
In this article on NJSpotlight.com, John Weingart — associate director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers and host of “Music You Can’t Hear on the Radio” on WPRB-FM and WPRB.com — mentions some Jersey songs I had never heard of, including “I Found a Peach in Orange, New Jersey in Apple Blossom Time.” My search for that one led me to a different song with a similar play on words in its title: “Little Peach From East Orange,” which opens with the line, “She’s just a little peach from East Orange, New Jersey/She’s the apple of my eye.”
Ray Anthony and His Orchestra’s 1950 recording of it is below. It wasn’t a big hit or anything, as far as I can tell, though Anthony — who was born in the Pittsburgh area and grew up in Cleveland — was quite popular in the ’50s, and was once married to actress Mamie Van Doren.
New Jersey celebrated its 350th birthday in 2014. And in the 350 Jersey Songs series, we marked the occasion by posting 350 songs — one a day, from September 2014 to September 2015 — that have something to do with the state, its musical history, or both. To see the entire list, click here.
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1 comment
Great rendition of a not so well known song.